Carving canoes from trees

This is part of a series that takes you on a journey through Burleigh Heads National Park, and uncovers rare insights into what life was like for the Kombumerri people that called Burleigh Heads home many years ago. Head to the main page to find out more and discover other segments in the series.

-------------------------------

Our local Aboriginal people had a very interesting way of building canoes, using the wood from ironbarks trees.

Although, rather than 'ironbark' the indigenous word for them was 'Biggera'.

Qld Parks and Wildlife Indigenous Ranger Clinton Brewer says there were lots of big old 'Biggeras' in the region back then for his ancestors to use.

"They wouldn't cut it down or wait for it to fall... they just carved it as it stands, out of the trunk - and of course that requires a lot of stone tools, a lot of hard work, a lot of effort - but hey, it worked," he says.

He says the 'chassis' section would be carved out and then a hollow to sit in.

"That's why around the coast you get 'scar trees' - it could be a small scar, a bit like an oval shape but pointed towards the ends.... in certain parts of the coast you can see trees with big massive carve outs on them, from where a canoe has been taken or from where tools have been taken. You might think it would kill the tree but it didn't."